Morris County boys tennis season in review, 2012

Player of the year: Chase Savage closed out his boys tennis career in style, posting his 100th career win while upholding his fourth seed in the state singles tournament.

View full sizeJennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerChase Savage of Delbarton is The Star-Ledger's Morris County boys tennis Player of the Year for 2012.

The Delbarton senior and Second Team All-State selection defeated Holmdel’s Michael Chen in the quarterfinal round for his 100th victory and became the second player from Delbarton to advance to the semifinal round of the event.

While he was ousted by eventual two-time champion Jonathan Carcione of Ramapo, Savage didn’t go down without a fight. Skilled and smart, Savage found Carcione’s weakness and capitalized. He chipped and charged. He hit drop shots, attempting to bring Carcione out of his comfort zone at the baseline and to the net.

“I’m the smaller player who can’t put as much on the ball, so I figure out ways to win,” said Savage, who lost the first set 7-5 to Carcione and then retired at the start of the second with an injured knee. “I went from my freshman year as a guy on the outside looking in on the lineup to where I am senior year, as one of the top four in the state.”

A stronger mental game kept Savage improving over his three years at first singles for Delbarton, capping his career at 100-26 with a 32-6 senior campaign. He won the Morris County Tournament first-singles title this season.

Team of the year: Seasons of success tend to blend together at Delbarton (28-3), but for coach John Thompson, this was a spring to remember.

Eric Shiuey of Delbarton

Delbarton opened with a 4-1 victory over Livingston, ending the Essex County team's 45-match winning streak for its first Bryan Bennett Memorial Tournament title since 1994. The triumph gave the team confidence and momentum moving forward. It went on to win its 11th straight Morris County Tournament title in a sweep of all five flights behind Chase Savage at first singles, Spencer Furey at second, Eric Shiuey at third and the doubles teams of Garrison Block and Mike Boyle and Thomas Fickinger and George Easley.

Delbarton's Chase Savage and Eric Shiuey

Delbarton, No. 4 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, then took its 10th straight sectional title, its fifth straight Non-Public A title and 12th overall. While the team bowed to West Windsor South in the semifinal round of the Tournament of Champions, Delbarton wasn't finished with its list of accolades just yet. Even after the handful of titles had been won, the Morris Township squad still managed to finish with one more record for its books.

Solidifying the fact that the team had the strongest 1-2 punch in the state, with Savage at first and an undefeated Furey at second, both Delbarton players reached the quarterfinal round of the state singles tournament -- a Delbarton first. Both eventually lost to two-time champion Jonathan Carcione of Ramapo. Furey ended his season 36-1 while Savage finished at 32-6 and Shiuey went 26-6. The Block-Boyle team was 23-3 and the Fickinger-Easley duo went 23-4.

Coach of the year: With all seven starters back, Chatham appeared poised for success in coach Bruce Humphreys' 21st season at the helm. That is until the season started. The outlook took a sharp downward turn when a string of illnesses and injuries began to plague the lineup.

First-singles player Jake Heart needed shoulder surgery and missed the first three weeks. Yanik Parsch was out at second singles with a pulled muscle and then bronchitis. Alec Weber missed a handful of his third-singles matches after his wisdom teeth were removed. First-doubles player Parker Dixon had a knee injury and his partner Chad Gildersleeve broke his wrist. Another player, Yousef Ismail, strained a muscle.

"It was the most challenging season I have ever faced," Humphreys said. "We lost a lot of matches 3-2 because we never had a stable lineup going."

On a day-to-day basis, Humphreys had multiple lineups drawn. He never knew who might be well enough to play.

"We couldn't complain about what was going on," Humphreys said. "If a guy was down, someone had to step up and fill the shoes, and we moved forward from that point. We could have been a train wreck, but their attitudes and characters were exemplary."

Chatham did step up and come together when it mattered the most. Following a 3-2 loss to Mendham on April 14, Chatham went on a 10-2 run that ended with a 4-1 victory over Mendham for a berth in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 final. Chatham ended its season at 15-8 with a loss to Millburn, No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20.

Other memorable seasons: The highlight for Montville (17-5) this season was in a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Pascack Hills, No. 8 in The Star-Ledger Top 20. Tied 2-2 in match points, Montville lost the clincher in a third-set tiebreaker at second doubles.

“It was heartbreaking, but it showed the kids they could play with the best in the state,” Montville coach Ken Sachs said. “It gave them confidence that they could play with anyone."

Following the April 14 loss, Montville went on to win 10 of its following 12 matches. Andrew Kim (18-7 at first), Dan Peski (16-6 at second) and Eric Young (20-1 at third) provided strength in singles while Montville’s doubles teams performed just as well. Jake Stathis and Devon Fano combined for a 16-5 record at first doubles, and Daniel Margulis and Alec Vigil finished 16-6 at second doubles.

Mendham's 17-6 campaign was triggered by Chris Bernt and Mitch Dumovic at first doubles. The pair went 22-8 and capped their season by reaching the state quarterfinal round before losing to eventual champion Livingston. Bernt and Dumovic also were runner-ups to Delbarton in the county tournament to key Mendham's second-place finish in the event.

Jeff Hill and Jackson Whang of Mountain Lakes serve during the state doubles tournament

Mountain Lakes (21-4) was empowered by a singles lineup that featured Austin Schiller (17-8 at first), Derek Chen (21-5 at second), and Josh Kirschenbaum (20-4 at third). The doubles teams of Jeff Hill and Jackson Whang (18-3 at first) and Henry Finkelstein and Greg Hoff (16-3) were equally as successful.

Best turnaround: After a 2-4 start, Parsippany (12-7) went on a 7-1 run that ended with a berth in the semifinal round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 tournament.

David DeVries of Kinnelon

Super soph: Peter Daly of Morristown-Beard (12-7) put together a 21-4 showing in his second year at first singles. His only in-county loss was to Delbarton's Chase Savage in the Morris County Tournament final.

Drop shots: West Morris's Daniel Presuto went 21-3 at second singles, with all three losses to Delbarton's Spencer Furey. ... David DeVries led Kinnelon from the top spot, producing a 12-7 record that gave the team crucial points in 3-2 victories over Newton, Glen Ridge, Whippany Park and River Dell. ... Freshman Mitchel Sanders produced a 11-11-1 record to key Randolph's 7-11 finish, a big improvement from 1-11 last year. ... Josh Kallen of Whippany Park reversed a three-set loss to Kinnelon's David DeVries when the two met for a second time this season.